Oregon Places: The U.S. Steel Corporation in Portland, 1901-1941

Abstract

OREGON PLACES The U.S. Steel Corporation in Portland, 1901-1941 byLewis L.McArthur INMAY 1938, IGRADUATED from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in economics, the dismal science. The final effects of theDepression were stillmanifest, and I do not recall any flurryofma jor corporations eager to interview prospective employees.1 While seeking permanent employment, I took a tem poraryjobwithPacific Power & Light Co. There I scoured local newspapers and clipped news articles about vari ous Public Utility District (PUD) pro posals for the forthcoming November election. Finally, inOctober, Iwent to work for Columbia Steel Company, thewholly owned subsidiary ofUnited States Steel Corporation. It occupied the brick office building and steel warehouse structure at 2345 N.W. Nicolai Street. Iwas hired by Clarence C. Johns, manager of sales, as an inside salesman at $90 per month with the promise, soon fulfilled,of a raise to the then princely salary of $100. The United States Steel Corpora tionwas formed in 1901by Wall Street financier J.P.Morgan through the merging of a number of important steel manufacturers including the Carnegie Steel Company, Illinois Steel Company, American Sheet & Tin Plate Company, American Steel & Wire Company, and a number of smaller producers and fabricators. Demand for steel in the Pacific Northwest was increasingwith the ex panding manufacturing and extensive railroad development. Portland was then theprimary steel sales and distri bution point for the area, a position it has held, arguably, to the present day. The new corporation, not yet ready to combine sales efforts, established separate subsidiary offices. In 1902, theAmerican Steel & Wire Company located atN.W. 9thand Irving streets, with E.R. Eldredge as manager. The fine 1895 yellow-brick McCraken Building with the drive-through fa cilities for horse-drawn drays is still standing, although modified to show little of its original distinctive ap pearance. In 1903, the Carnegie Steel Company opened an office in the Ainsworth Building, with R.R. Hoge 424 OHQ vol. 107, no. 3 ? 2006 Oregon Historical Society H 9 W 9 a. I S g" I t 8 e 3 o & CO 9 O ?? Is Lewis L.McArthur atwork inabout 1938 managen Two years later,Hoge took on additional responsibility asmanag er for theAmerican Sheet & Tin Plate Company in the same office. In 1912, a new subsidiary, the United States Steel Products Company combined sales effortswhen their Pacific Coast Department opened a local officewith Hoge in charge at S.W. 6thand Alder in the new Selling Building. In 1913, he hired Arthur Roberts, fresh out of Behnke-Walker Business School, as a stenographer.2 In the beginning, United States Steel was almost the only supplier to thePacific Northwest. Bethlehem and theother large steel companies had not yet been organized. Colorado Fuel 8c Iron Company of Pueblo, Colorado, was in existence and probably had supplied steel for theBurnside Bridge built in 1894.A small amount of steel, principally tin plate fromWales, was imported, butmost local supply came bywater from the corporation's east ernmills. Prices were low,often $1 per hundred pounds or less compared to the 40 to 60 times that amount at present. Most steel was brought in to order, although a few jobbers did carry modest stocks. Pacific Metal Company stocked steel sheets at West Park and Everett streets.Pacific Hard ware and Steel Company carried nails and various wire products. Haseltine Company run byAmby Haseltine was a major customer, as was Honeyman Hardware. Justprior toWorld War I,Marshall Wells Company built a four-story warehouse at N.W. 14th and Lovejoy. In the early 1900s, steel-framed buildings such as the 1907 Corbett Building, the 1910Olds & King, and the 1912 Lipman Wolfe were appear ing. U.S. Steel's American Bridge Company supplied the structural members formany of them, includ ing theUniversity Club, built in 1912, as well asmaterial formany railroad bridges. Fabricators such asNorthwest Steel Company ordered theirmate McArthur, The U.S. Steel Corporation inPortland 425 >*^^E-"' '"' -.-?!-.."""'ffi' - ' ?S??ftiir^il^^HHill^^H^H^H^HH Fra?/: ?. Fey, head of thebridgedepartment rial by the job and expanded into the shipbuilding business during World War I. Beebe and Bowles was another major ship fabricator. Later, Poole and McGonigle got into the picture as an important steel bridge and building...